Apparatus for wrapping lollipops and the like



R. SHEPLER Feb. 10, 1959 APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING LOLLIPOPS AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 9, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR ROSS SHEPLER ATTORNEY R. SHEPLER APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING LOLLIPOPS AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 9, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mi ON INVENTOR ROSS SHEPLER A'IT United. States APPARATUS; FOR. WRAPPING LOIBLIPOPS- AND. THE'LIKE' Ross Shepler, Hershey; Pa;

Application November 9, 1954, Serial-.No.- 467,753v

1 Claim. (Cl. 53-200) for one of its-objects'theprovisiou ofa wrapper which is sanitary, while,- at the same time; susceptible of beingremoved with but a single simple movement;

Most of the Wrappers for lollipops and the like are either applied by twisting a single. section around the. stem of the lollipop;:or, asin1thecase of lollip op s with flat sides, by applying two sectionsofwrapper tothe flat sides of the lollipop and heat-sealing the contiguous edges of :1:

the two sections.

Both of the aforementioned types of wrappers are difficult to remove. That is, the twisted. variety has to be untwisted; whereas the heat-sealed'wrapper in two sections has to be practically torn apart.

According to. the-teachings of the present invention,- there is provided a wrapper which is not only sanitary, but which maybe removed from the lollipop with a simple motion, the wrapper being applied in rapid and inexpensive manner.

Another object is the provision of'a simple and inexpensive apparatus for accomplishing the wrapping operation referredrto hereinbefore.

The foregoing and'other objects willbe more. readily understood after referring to the following specification and annexed. drawings in which like reference numerals designate like parts, and in which:

Figure l'is an elevational view of alolli'pop embodying the novel wrapper of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevationof an apparatus whichis constructedinaccordancewith the teachings oflthe present' invention;

Figure 3 is a perspective of a portion of the showing of Figure 2 and illustrating in greater detail the manner in which the material of the wrapper is applied to the lollipop, pressed down thereover, and sealed; and

Figure 4 is an enlarged perspective of the heat-sealing elements.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 2 designates the head of a lollipop with its stick or stem 3 depending therefrom; and the wrapper 4 of the present invention is shown as comprising a sheet of material (preferably transparent) which has been pressed down over the head of the lollipop with its lower ends converged onto the stick 3 and heat-sealed therearound, as indicated at 5.

Such wrapper, being applied to the stick 3 of the lollipop 2 in a manner which requires no twisting, and with the heat-seal 5 only in the limited area shown (i. e., adjacent its point of contact with the stick) may be quickly stripped from the lollipop with but a single simple movement of the hand.

As distinguished from the more complicated machines heretofore utilized for applying wrappers to lollipops and the like, the apparatus of the present invention is comparatively simple in nature and comprises a series of elements which will be specifically referred to hereinafter.

2,&72,768 Patented Feb. 10, 1959 WWI 2. Referring more particulary'to Figures 2 and 3, the nu-. metal 10 designates a horizontal shaft, which has secured thereto a pair. of spacedlsprockets,.the most adjacent of.

which is shown at 12. A corresponding shaft and sprocket arrangement is disposed at the other end of the machine (not shown). A roller chain 16 connects each of the sprockets 12 on the shaft 10, with its aforementioned oppositely disposed counterpart.

A' successive series of'rectangular plates 18 extends transversely between the pair of roller chains 16 and throughout the length thereof, being connected to the said roller chains by supporting links, generally indicated inverted position along the lower'reaches of the said roller.

chains;

Disposed above the shaft 10 on which the pair of spaced sprockets 12" is mounted is'a shaft 25 which is parallel therewith; the said shaft 25 carrying a pair of sprockets 27, the most adjacent of which is shown at 27in Figure 2.. A shaft (not shown) which corresponds to the shaft 25 is 'disposed 'at the other end of the machineyand it is provided with a pair of sprockets (likewise. not shown) Which-correspondto the sprockets27. A pair of roller' chains 3ll'conneets these oppositely disposed sprockets.

A successive series ofrectangular plates 32" extends transversely over the pair of roller chains 39 and throughout the length of the latter, being connected thereto by supporting links.

Each of these transversely extending rectangular plates 32 is provided with a'central aperture 34 which is slightly larger than-the head21of the'lollipopto he'wrapped, the' sidewalls of the central apertures 34 being downwardly and outwardly flaredi In order todirect the successive series of centrally apertured' rectangular plates 32* downwardly onto the heads 2'ofthe lollipops (to bewrapped), and to remove the same therefrom after the'wrapping operation has been completed, the-lower reachofeach of the parallel (upper) rol1er=chains 3tl istrained over a pair of suitably supported spacedlowcr sprockets the most adjacentof whichxis shownat ill;- and; by this means, the successive" series of transversely extending centrally apertured plates 32 is made to converge downwardly toward each of the vertically disposed tubular supports 20, travel in parallelism therewith for a short distance during which the sealing operation is performed, and then travel upwardly toward the sprockets (not shown) at the discharge end of the machine.

Referring to the left-hand portion of Figure 2 of the drawings, disposed below and to the left of the pair of sprockets 27 on the (upper) horizontal shaft 25 is a conventional paper feeder 45 of the endless belt variety and a paper cutter 46, such as commonly used, to supply successive short sheets of paper, or other material, to the tops of the lollipops to be wrapped.

As the head 2 of each successively moving lollipop receives a section of wrapper material from the paper feeder 45 and paper cutter 46, it moves forwardly with the lower chain 16 and under the central aperture 34 of one' of the rectangular plates 32 which is then converging downwardly onto it, being guided in such fashion by the parallel roller chains 30 and their supporting sprockets.

The downward movement of each of the centrally apertured rectangular plates 32 continues until it completely telescopes over the head 2 of the lollipop, and moves downwardly for such a distance as will permit the wrapper A ava ice; (Mr-l q) 4 to extend downwardly for a distance onto the stick or stem 3 of the lollipop. At this time, the transversely extending, centrally aperture'd, rectangular plates 32 will assume horizontal movement between the spaced sprockets 40; and, during this horizontal movement which is, of course, parallel to the movement of the vertical tubular holders 20, the sealing operation is performed, after which the transversely extending, centrally apertured plates 32 are withdrawn by the movement of the roller chains 30 upwardly onto the sprockets (not shown) at the discharge end of the machine.

According to the teachings of the present invention, the sealing operation is performed by a pair of rotary heat-sealing members which are constructed and arranged to press the wrapper 4 around the stick 3, as indicated at 5 in Figure 1. More specifically, a pair of shafts 50 are disposed to extend upwardly approximately mid-way of the distance between the pair of sprockets 40 which, as aforementioned, is the sealing zone; and mounted atop each of these vertical shafts 50 are rotary plate members 52 and 53. When viewed in plan, these rotary plate members 52 and 53 appear to be identical in that each of them comprises a peripheral portion 54 which is, for the most part, circular, but interrupted by quadrantal notches 56.

However, and as will be noted in Figure 4, the rotary sealing member 53 is provided with a peripheral groove 58 which is adapted to receive the periphery of the rotary heat-sealing member 52.

The vertical shafts 50 for rotating the rotary heatsealing members 52 and 53 are adapted to be rotated in unison, whereby the quadrantal notches 56 will register.

These rotary heat-sealing members 52 and 53 are heated in any suitable manner, such as simply by gas burners (not shown); and, as the lollipops with their wrappers 4 applied in the manner hereinbefore described are moved forwardly, the quadrantal notches 56 of the rotary heat-sealing members 52 and 53 engage the converged and bunched portion 5 of the wrapper and apply thereto sufficient heat to effect the sealing operation.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various types of heat-scalable wrapping material may be employed; such, for example, as cellophane, etc.

In order to achieve the aforementioned mode of operation, the movement of the successive series of vertical tubular holders must, of course, be made to coincide with the successive registration of the quadrantal notches 56 of the rotary heat-sealing members 52 and 53. Likewise, the movement of the transversely extending, centrally apertured plates 32 which apply the wrapping material onto the heads 2 of the lollipops and hold the same in the shape indicated at 4 until the quadrantal notches 56 of the rotary heat-sealing members 52 and 53 effect the bunching and sealing operation.

Preferably, but not necessarily, a single power source may be utilized to drive all of the aforementioned operating elements.

While I have shown and described certain specific embodiments of the present invention, it will be readily understood that I do not wish to be limited exactly thereto, since various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

I claim:

Apparatus for wrapping articles having an enlarged head portion and a slender stem portion; said apparatus comprising an endless conveyor; means carried by said endless conveyor for supporting each of the articles to be wrapped with its enlarged head projecting therefrom; means for placing a piece of wrapping material on the enlarged head of each of said articles as it is advanced by said endless conveyor; a second endless conveyor adapted for generally parallel movement with respect to said first-mentioned endless conveyor; the path of said second endless conveyor slightly converging onto and diverging from said first-mentioned endless conveyor; said second endless conveyor belt carrying a series of apertured elements, each of said apertured elements being adapted to move into embracing relationship with respect to the head of one of said articles during the aforementioned convergent movement of said second endless conveyor, thereby forcing the piece of wrapping material around the head of said article; and a pair of cooperating, peripherally recessed, rotary elements disposed to gather that portion of the wrapping material which projects beyond the enlarged head of the article and seal it about the slender stem portion thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,200,365 Kempf Oct. 3, 1916 1,494,861 Mueller May 20, 1924 2,069,266 Nicodemus Feb. 2, 1937 2,185,593 Kaeding et al. Jan. 2, 1940 2,394,936 Palmer Feb. 12, 1946 2,505,384 Burstiner Apr. 25, 1950 2,547,836 Pfeiifer Apr. 3, 1951 2,578,626 Brandenberger Dec. 11, 1951 2,705,857 Fox et al Apr. 12, 1955 ube- 

